One Year
by BlueEyedAuthor
Summary: It had been a year since they lost her, and almost everyone was in no condition to help him -- well, except one of the few who hadn't known her. DL and mention of DnA friendship.


**So I joined a role-playing group and had to submit a writing sample... this is what I sent in and thought I would post it here as well.**

One year.

It had been one year since they found her burnt skeleton in a stolen black Cadillac.

As Lindsay looked up from her microscope, she could sense the change in the atmosphere. She wasn't Aiden, never would be. Lindsay still remembered Stella saying how she would've liked her. Lindsay had heard so many stories about the street smart CSI from Brooklyn who snuck into clubs during her teen years to watch the DJs duke it out and her tough resolve in solving a case.

But her street smarts hadn't saved her, and her resolve to nail Pratt had gotten her killed. In the end, it had been Aiden who nailed him with the bite mark and the ear print in her final hours, and if no one had been watching Lindsay would've smiled to herself.

Today, she was the odd girl out. Only Adam, who had been hired after Aiden's dismissal, was in the same boat. Then there was the budding homicide detective, Jessica Angell, but Lindsay didn't see her all too often. The Montana native then looked over and noticed Adam was listening to his iPod and Mac was in the room.

Usually Mac would shout Adam's name and Adam would jump out of his skin like a scared animal, but none of that was going on today. Today Mac breezed right by Adam in a stoic manner that seemed more than the usual Mac.

When Lindsay went to lunch later, Stella and Hawkes were picking at their food with vacant looks in their eyes. Don then walked in and sat next to Stella. Usually he would bounce in, but today he walked in a zombie-like state.

Lindsay surveyed the room, looking for the last person she hadn't seen. Danny. He hadn't come in at all today. He hadn't even called, whispering sweet nothings or calling her 'Montana' like he would normally do. She had a feeling she knew where he was -- she had been there in Bozeman during the trial of the man who killed her friends when she had to testify for the prosecution. Danny had helped her come out of that dark place and in the end a romance had budded.

Now it was Lindsay's turn to bring Danny back from the dark.

She went to Mac's office and asked to take the rest of the afternoon off.

"Check on Danny for us," said Mac.

Lindsay nodded and left, hailing a cab to Brooklyn. She felt like a fish out of water the moment she stepped out of the cab, as if the streets were telling her to leave Danny alone. Knowing the church was nearby gave her the courage to continue forward. She around and eventually found the cemetary. It didn't take long to find Aiden's headstone -- everything was alphabetical and she could hear her boyfriend crying his eyes out.

"Danny," said Lindsay.

"Whatcha doin' here Montana?" said Danny.

"I was worried about you," said Lindsay. "I knew today would be difficult."

"Understatement of the century," said Danny bitterly.

He completely lost it then, and Lindsay held him in her arms.

"She was my friend -- my friend and I shoulda done more," said Danny.

"I understand," said Lindsay.

The feelings of helplessness and guilt, irrational as they would seem to the naked eye, swam deep in her mind for years and now they had set up house in Danny's.

"I know," said Danny.

After a long time of standing there like that, Danny was calm enough to leave. As Lindsay followed Danny out of the cemetary, she felt like someone was following her. She turned around and saw a woman with brown hair. She knew from the picture at the funeral that the woman standing in front of her was Aiden.

"Thank you," said Aiden.

As soon as she appeared, she was gone. Lindsay jogged to catch up with Danny, concocting a story of losing one of her flip flops as the reason for lagging behind.

With time, they would all heal and one day would be able to think of Aiden without going to a bad place.

Time was helped along by a country girl and a thank you from above.

**See that review button? You know you want to...**


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